Physiological and psychological tests for determining optimum performanc

Roessler, R.

English

NASA Technical Reports Server

N 6 	 31676 
NASA CR103302 
Physiological Correlates of Optimal Performance

(NGR 44-003-031)
CAS, haL 
C00V jl 
Semiannual St4atus Report
(Dec. 1, 1968-April 30, 1969) 
Submitted to 
Office of Grants and Research Contracts 
National Aeronautics and Space Administration 
Washington, D. C. 
By 
Robert Roessler, M. D. 
Principal Investigator 
From 
Department of Psychiatry 
Baylor College of Medicine 
Houston, Texas
-Wi I
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19690022298 2020-03-12T03:31:08+00:00Z
During this six month period, the second half of the second year supported 
by the grant, further work has been completed in the following areas: data col-
lection, data analysis and the preparation and presentation of scientific papers. 
I. Data Collection 
A. Additional Testing 
In the last semiannual status report it was reported that 21 addi-
tional subjects had been added to the experiment in order to insure the availa-
bility of sufficient data to satisfy statistical assumptions underlying the analyses. 
At that time, during the initial phases of the third experimental run, 40 subjects 
of the original 53 remained in the experiment. At the end of this six month re-
porting period, 33 subjects, all of the available subjects, had completed the 
third experimental run. Seven additional subjects were lost to the experiment 
during this period for a variety of reasons. The testing consisted of all-night 
sleep deprivation as outlined in the original proposal, followed by the same per-
formance task which the subjects practiced during the first two testings. The 
purpose of this testing was to examine the relationship of physiological variables 
to the level of performance under a sleep deprivation condition, using the data 
from the second testing as a baseline comparison for each subject. An additional 
purpose was to provide baseline sleep deprivation data for assessing the contribu-
tion of sleep deprivation to performance decrement during the fourth experimental 
run (see below). Preliminary inspection of the data revealed substantial decre-
ment in performance from the second run. 
B. Additional Data Collected 
Because of the interests of the principal investigator, psychological 
test data was collected on all of the subjects. This data included the scores for 
each subject on the Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale and the Ego Strength Scale 
from the MMPI and the Zuckerman state anxiety, depression and hostility scores 
before and after each experimental run. In addition, during the all-night sleep 
deprivation of the third testing, the following psychological tests were also ad-
ministered: the Guilford-Zimmerman Aptitude Survey, Parts IV, V, & VI; the 
Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey; the California Personality Inventory; 
the Holtzman Inkblot Test, the Ambiguity-Tolerance Scale, the Minnesota 
Multiphasic Personality Inventory, the Embedded Figures Test; the Rod and 
Frame Test; the Stein Ego Strength Scale, the Barratt Impulsivity Scale and the 
Eysenck Personality Index. 
The foregoing psychological test data will be examined in relation to 
the psysiological and performance data for the presence of relationships which 
may be of predictive value.
-1-
In addition to the psychological test data, biochemical determinations - 
catecholamines, creatinine, urea nitrogen, magnesium and urinary volume-per-
hour-were made before and after each performance in the first three experi-
mental testings. These values will also be examined in relation to the psycho-
logical, physiological and performance variables. 
None of the above psychological and biochemical data was proposed 
initially and was collected and analyzed without cost to the grantor. Because 
of the interests of the grantor in such data, however, an additional biochemical 
parameter will be added to the data collection in the fourth and final experimen-
tal testing - blood glucose levels before and after performance. 
C. Fourth Experimental Testing 
The fourth experimental testing, as originally planned, is a 72-
hour vigil in the laboratory with periods of performnce, rest and sleep, and 
with time out for eating and personal hygiene. After pilot work, the schedule 
of these activities was finalized as shown in Table I. 
At this time it is not known whether it will be possible to complete the 
fourth experimental run because of lack of funding, due to the budgetary reduc-
tion in the Apollo Applications Program. However, four subjects who will be 
leaving the city in the near future and who would otherwise be lost to the experi-
ment even if it is funded later, will be tested during the month of May. 
II. Data Analysis 
As in previous reports, only a summary of the analyses which hqve 
been completed will be provided here. Detailed presentation of the results will 
be incorporated in scientific papers as they are prepared for publication. 
A. Sleep Classification 
In the last interim report it was noted that a program for the clas-
sification of sleep stages had been completed and was being employed to classify 
the depth of sleep on the subjects with good electroencephalographic data for Runs 
I and II. In the interval, considerable additional work has been done in this area. 
It was noted that the existing literature contained minimal information 
on the reliability of clinical classification of sleep stages, both within and between 
raters. Checks on the reliability of such classification in our laboratory and 
between such classifications and the computer program included in the last report 
were therefore carried out. The intra-rater reliability did not exceed . 80 and 
between-rater reliabilities were of comparable magnitude. This indicated that up 
to 36% of the total variance of the clinical classification of EEG stages was error 
ES
-2-
variance. High agreement between any digital classification and clinical 
classifications could not be expected for this reason. Nevertheless, be-
cause Program IV did not approximate the degree of agreement which 
would be expected even if error variance were discounted, four additional 
programs have been checked for agreement with clinical classification. 
The last, Program 8, is shown in Table 2. The degree of agreement be-
tween this program and clinically rated stages of sleep for one subject is 
shown in Table 3. It is readily apparent that the degree of agreement 
between the digital classification and the "eyeball" continues to leave 
something to be desired, especially in the classification of stages 1 and 2. 
(REM sleep is not included as a separate category because period analytic 
data of the major period, it was found, cannot distinguish between stage 1 
and stage 1-REM sleep. The apparent low agreement on "awake" is due to 
the small number of epochs; other subjects showed agreement of . 80 and 
above.)
The criteria employed in the clanical classification of sleep stages 
were those in "A Manual of Standardized Terminology, Techniques and 
Scoring System for Sleep Stages of Human Subjects", edited by Kales and 
Rechtschaffen. (1) Neither those criteria nor those of Williams and Agnew 
(2,3), mentioned in the previous interim report, are sufficiently discrete to 
differentiate between stages 1 and 2 with a high degree of agreement. We 
will therefore attempt to validate the latest classification of sleep depth by 
correlating it with other variables such as catecholamine excretion. Fur-
ther efforts to obtain better agreement between digital and "eyeball" 
classification seem fruitless in the presence of the substantial error 
variance in the eyeball classification. If the digital classification correlates 
better with other variables, then it is more "correct" than clinical classifi-
cation. Such a classification is perfectly reliable, of course. 
B. Skin Conductance, Personality Variables and Performance 
Variables 
In the last semiannual status report, the results of an analysis 
of covariance on the relationship between basal skin resistance (BSR) and 
performance was reported. On the basis of this analysis it was concluded 
that, ". . . it appears therefore that a lower skin resistance (higher activa-
tion) is associated with better performance." Correlations of each subject's 
BSR and galvanic skin responses (GSRs) across all stimulus conditions and 
across hours revealed a very high degree of consistency. A single value for 
each of the variables shown in Tables 4 and 5 was computed for each sub-
ject, therefore, and the correlations among these variables computed. With 
this type of analysis there is no relationship between skin conductance 
(reciprocal of BSR) and the various performance variables. However, the 
related variable, sum GSR amplitudes per minute, did correlate significantly 
-3-
with reaction time, interrogation rate and number correct. After further 
practice during Run II, however, this relationship between the physiological 
variables and the performance variables d appears. In their place a re-
lationship between the psychological variables and the performance variables 
appears. Values of all the physiological variables were lower during the 
second testing than during the first. It appears that the level of activation 
is lower after practice and that personality variables are related to perfor-
mance only after learning has occurred. These conclusions must be 
tentative, however, because the latter were not predicted and the number 
of subjects (21) in these analyses is small. 
A principal components factor analysis; on the variables shown in 
Tables 4 and 5 was also computed for both the first and second runs. The 
results are shown in Table 6. The first factor on the first run, accounting 
for more than 28% of the total variance, is obviously a performance factor 
that contains an appreciable 1 oading (.56) from sum GSR amplitude per minute. 
The second factor is a personality factor with heavy loadings on ego strength 
and trait anxiety and lower, but appreciable, loadings on state anxiety. The 
third factor, accounting for 23% of the variance, is obviously a GSR and skin 
conductance factor, but with a loading of .33 on number correct. 
The factor analysis of the second experimental run reveals the per-
formance factor, this time accounting for approximately 27% of the variance, 
as the first factor, but in this run the number of GSRs per minute rather than 
the sum of GSRs per minute loads on this factor and a new variable, state 
anxiety, loads at a .75 level. The second factor on this analysis is obviously 
comparable to the third factor on the first analysis - i. e. , it is a GSR and skin 
conductance factor and contains no appreciable loadings from any other variable. 
The third factor in this analysis is comparable to the second factor on the first 
experimental run except that, in addition to the high loadings on ego strength 
and trait anxiety, there are smaller but appreciable loadings on all of the per-
formance variables. In summary, the results of the factor analysis reinforce 
the conclusions made after inspection of the results of the correlational analyses. 
The two types of analyses are, of course, based on the same data and are 
therefore subject to the same qualifications. 
C. Other Physiological Variables and Performance 
Heart rate, finger volume, finger pulse amplitude and respiration 
data were also collected in these experimental runs. The results of the heart 
rate analysis on the first experimental run were included in the last semiannual 
status report. Analysis of heart rate on the second and third experimental runs 
and of all of the other physiological variables on all three runs is in progress. 
-4-
III. Preparation and Presentation of Scientific Papers 
Two scientific papers which were supported in part by this grant 
have been prepared during this six month period. The first, dealing directly 
with data collected in this experiment, was entitled "Personality, Skin 
Conductance and Performance" and was prepared under the supervision of 
the principal investigator by a second year medical student, Larry J. 
Strausbaugh, who presented it as a medical student research project. The 
second paper, "Ego Strength and Galvanic Skin Responses to Motion Pic-
tures" was authored by Charles Kaiser and the principal investigator. A 
final version of this paper is being prepared and will be submitted subse-
quently for publication. 
Iv. References 
1. Kales, Anthony & RecI1chaffen, Allen (Eds.) "A Manual of 
Standardized Terminology, Techniques and Scoring System for Sleep Stages 
of Human Subjects". National Institutes of Health Publication No. 204, 1968. 
2. Williams, R. L., Agnew, H. W. Jr., & Webb, W. B. "Sleep 
Patterns in Young Adults: An EEC Study". Electroencephalography and 
Clinical Neurophysiology, 17:376-381, 1964. 
3. Agnew, H. W. Jr., Webb, W. B. & Williams, R. L. "The 
First Night Effect: An EEG Study of Sleep". Psychophysiology, 2:263-266, 
1966.
-5-
Table I. Schedule of Activities, Run IV 
Day  
6:30 - 7:30 AM S arrives.	 Void (save).	 Give 200 ccs Tang.	 Prep. 
7:30 - 9:20 AM Performance.	 (record).	 Void (save). 
9:20 - 10:20 AM Rest.	 Give 200 ccs. fluid. (S may shave, brush teeth, etc. 
10:20 - 12:10 Performance. (do not record). 	 Check electrodes. 
12:10 - 1:10 PM Lunch. 
1:10 - 2:10 PM Check electrodes.	 Rest-Alert (record). Give 200 ccs water. 
2:10 - 4:00 PM Performance. (record). 
4:00 - 5:00 PM Rest-Alert (do not record). 	 Give 200 ccs. water. 
5:00 - 6:00 PM Supper 
6:00 - 7:50 PM Check electrodes.	 Performance (do not record). 
7:50 - 8:50 PM Rest-Alert (record). 	 Void (discard). 
8:50 - 10:40 PM Check electrodes. 	 Performance (record).
	 Void (save). 
10:40- 11:00 PM Prep for sleep.	 Give 200 ccs. water. 
11:00 - 6:30 AM Sleep (record).
Day 
Repeat above schedule. 
Day 
Repeat above schedule. 
Table 2 
Criteria for Sleep Depth Classification 
Program 8 
Sleep Stage 
W	 54-60 sec. /min of 8-30 Hz 
1 0-53 sec. 
plus 0- 4 sec. 
plus 0-23 sec. 
2 0-53 sec. 
plus 0-12 sec. 
plus 24-60 sec
of 8-30 Hz 
of 0-3 Hz 
of 0-7 Hz 
of 8-30 Hz
of 0-3 Hz
of 0-7 Hz 
3	 0-53 sec. of 8-30 Hz 
plus 13-30 sec. of 0-3 Hz 
4	 0-53 sec. of 8-30 Hz 
plus 31-60 sec. of 0-3 Hz
Table 3 
Agreement between Program 8 and Clinical Classification of Sleep Stages * 
"Eyeball" Designation 
0	 1	 2	 3	 4	 %Correct 
Stage 	 1	 3	 25 
Stage 	 33	 41	 45 
Computer	 Stage 2	 13	 72	 2	 83
Designation
Stage 	 10	 93	 t4	 87 
Stage 	 •2	 32	 45	 .57 
* Epochs of one minute's duration
4. 
0
(Y) 
C'J
('1 (Y) (0 0 'f 0 'zj (N N- CO 0 0 
(n . . . I.. • I• I• • 
* 
LX (0 (N 0 - (0 - N- - 0) v- to - - (C) 0 0 
I • I• 
-C 
4-,
co 
c'i
CO 
c'i
Co 0 to 
_
CD 0 
0 
11iL I• 4) 
U)
I
* 
4) 
o
* 
*
* 
* * 
(1) cJ 
(0
to 
C')
0 
01
0) 
(0
N- 
It
0 
0 
o 
o
I• I•
0 
C 0 0 * 
4)
) a) *
* 
*
V 
-I--' 
e i
0) t to ('1 0) 0 ('-1 N- 0 0 L 
a) . I . I . I '- (0 (0 4-) 
C
A 
c
L 
* (0 
to
(0 
01
0 
0
0 
0
* 
* 
* 
a)i: 
a) 
0 
C
** 1
0 
CD to 0 
--	 C • I . I i- V 
COo a. 
*
I!) 
to 
CD 
N-0 
0
A 
L 
* 
* 
C 
c (fl-t 0
a)
to 
0 
a) 
4-)
a) 0
4)
v 
C 
- 
E . - 
4-' C
E C
a. 
'a) E
0 
D
•- 
F-
0 
-- 0) a) 
X 
1)
-
C C 0)  
0 < 
.- c
U)
•
41 
°
L L L U) i A 
0
C (1) 
-'-) 8 o 0) L L 
H	 (d 44: w [t £ 41: W F- U) *
f 0) N- 01
*
U) 0	 0	 0 
-	 0 ('1 - 0 cJ- C'1 f 0 
(fl
* 
4J *
* 
* 
LX
U) 0 
°
It 
0
0) 
(
0) 
()
0) 
It
i-	 0 
N-	 0 
I ' ,• 
0 0) C\1 0)
* 
It
*
01 0 
0) C - - 01 1 co 0 
I. i• I. • 
4) 
(1) 
4J 
o * 
a) 
L CL) 
0
11 
('1
(0 
i-
* 
('1 
(0
0 
co
0 0 
0 
o
•
I 
C 
0
* 
4-)
0) (0 01
* 
It 0 
° C\j N- 0 
4) 
C 
-4 
C 
tE
N-
o
CO 
01
(0 
- 0 
ry
a) 
0 
C 
o 
C3
i- 01 
01
0 
0 
o
I. I• 
N. * 
* 
* 
(j)J N- 0 (D 0 
£ 
(flN 0 0 
a) 
4-,
a)
a) 
0 
c
a) 
4-' 
£ 
.-
4-' 
c 4-'
a) 
E c r . EL . 0 
D
• 0 4-' 0) (1) (1) 
• 
- •'
D 
c 
0
C 
0 0)
4-) 
0
C 
a) 
L
• x 
.t c 0 •;::
0. 
L 
L
L 
L
4-' 
U) 
U) C 0 (1) 0 " 
'-
0 (d
Nnj j
- 
cn
a) 
a
4-' 
4E :N
0) 
Iji
L 
F- (1)
-4 
-4 
C 
3 
x 
L 
.1-i 
-4 
a) 
L 
L 
0 
0 
U) 
a) 
-4 
-U 
ro
0 
0 
V 
Q-
A  
L 
* 
* 
* 
1
0 
V 
a 
to 
U) 
A 
L 
* 
*
U) 
0 
V 
a 
A 
L 
* 
Table 6: Factor Analyses of Skin 
Conductance and Performance Data 
Run I 
Percentages of Total Variance 
28.60	 20.77	 23.20 
Rotated Factor Loadings 
GSR amplitude/minute 
# GSRs/minute 
Skin conductance 
Reaction Time 
Interrogation Rate 
# Correct 
Ego Strength 
Trait Anxiety 
State Anxiety
.56 .12 -.72 
.26 .10 -.82 
.07 -.04 .83 
.93 .18 -.01 
-.86 .05 .06 
-.72 -.13 .33 
.09 -.80 .29 
.10 .85 -.09 
.17 .66 .09 
Run II 
Percentages of Total Variance 
26.71	 21.61	 22.83 
Rotated Factor Loadings
GSR amplitude/minute .08 -.91 .01 
# GSRs/minute .41 -.74 -.09 
Skin Conductance .30 .68 .04 
Reaction Time -.82 -.07 -37 
Interrogation Rate .62 .16 .42. 
# Correct .69 -.08 .34 
Ego Strength . 1 7 .20 .87 
Trait Anxiety -.16 .12 -.92 
State Anxiety .75 -.14 -.14


Physiological correlates of optimal performance Semiannual status report, 1 Dec. 1968 - 30 Apr. 1969

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

NASA Technical Reports Server